Fight against terrorism in the focus of the G8 summit

The key issue on the agenda of the G8 summit is the fight against terrorism, informed sources in the Kremlin disclosed.

After September 11th, 2001 on the basis of the Joint Statement from September 19, 2001, the G8 leaders launched an unprecedented anti-terrorist cooperation.

"Russia and its G8 partners became leaders in the global anti-terrorist coalition," the informed sources in the Kremlin said, recalling that the G8 had worked out anti-terrorist recommendations, aimed at the development of the present-day international society's protection mechanisms from the threat of terrorism.

The G8 is closely cooperating with the Antiterrorist Committee of the UN Security Council, by involving a maximum number of countries to meet its demands. According to the preliminary data, all in all, starting from September 11th, 2001, countries have frozen at least $116 mln on the accounts of terrorist organisations and its sponsors.

Russia is actively contributing to the anti-terrorist cooperation, the informed sources underlined. Enormous efforts have been done to elicit and arrest the financial means destined for the Chechen terrorists. The necessary measures to speed up the ratification of the International Convention of Terrorism Financing Prevention are being taken. The document has already been ratified by the State Duma and is waiting to be ratified by the Federal Assembly and approved by the Russian President.

A special attention in Kananaskis will be paid to the issue concerning the prevention of access by terrorists to the weapons of mass destruction, missiles, technologies and data describing its production and fortification of the non-proliferation regime.

The agreed principles in this sphere will be considered by the G8 leaders, the informed sources stated. The participants of the summit will focus on the antiterrorist provision of international transportation.

In this connection, issues of the G8 cooperation at a level of a number of departments have already being worked out. Thus, has already been reached an agreement on the participation of the Russian Federal Frontier Guard Service in the training of the G8 Frontier Control Services in 2002. Russian State Customs Committee will be electronically exchanging information with its partners daily, in order to provide a secure transit of cargo, possessing a high risk (radioactive, chemical, etc.) and more effective fight against the smuggling of weapon and explosives.

Russia wants the international antiterrorist cooperation, also within the G8 countries, to be "firmly based on the on the international law with the central coordinating role played by the UN Security Council." At the same time, the informed sources stated, that Russia is especially interested in the development and adoption by the UN of the Integrated Convention of Fight against Terrorism (Russia's project) and of the International Convention of Fight against the Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (India's project).

An effective counteraction to terrorism is possible only within the frames of the broad integrated approach to the solution of the key-issues concerning the international security and strategic stability. A completely new atmosphere in the relations of Russia with its G8 partners enables to discuss the issues in an open and constructive tone. In the opinion of Russia, this problem must undoubtedly be of the top priority of the G8 agenda, inasmuch as it concerns the provision of the fundamental conditions for the stable development of the entire human race, the informed sources stated.

In the course of the summit the regional issues will be considered in connection with the antiterrorist topic, the informed sources said. The regional problems include the situations in Afghanistan and in the Middle East and the relations between India and Pakistan. At the same time the informed sources stressed that the G8 countries have an ample potential for the solution of these regional problems.

Russia stands for the effective use of this potential and is taking an active part in the solution of the issues, the informed sources stressed.